Besides being a business coach and educator, I am an enthusiastic Aikido practitioner. Over time, I have seen Aiki principles working in practice enough to know that it has application across the full range of human emotion and interaction.

I firmly believe that the principles of Aiki have a valid place in the highly competitive and egotistical world of business, which of course is where I make my living.

Business is merely a subset of life, except for the addition of two powerful factors – money and power! These two ingredients have enormous potential to alter human behaviour. They are catalysts for greed and competition and can bring out the very worst in people.

Aikido is known world wide as the art of peace. It is a defensive, non-confrontational, non-competitive Japanese martial art driven by calm and relaxation, with care for the wellbeing of the opponent inherent in the art.

The introduction of Aiki principles is about applying concepts of peace to business interactions, but at the same time having effective defensive skills to deal with any difficult situation.

Aiki is a powerful addition to the personal strategic business arsenal. In essence, it is maintaining a peaceful mind when competing and fighting are the easier options. It is extending and injecting the power of calm and relaxation into all things.

You may have to do some Aikido training to appreciate it but you will realise what an overwhelming advantage the power of Aiki really is.

Aiki emotional management has immediate and obvious benefits for business. It lowers deadly personal stress levels and plays a direct and positive role in business productivity and performance.

There are three (3) basic main Aiki principles of peace to observe when interacting with others on a business basis. They are:

Respect (for self and others)

Self control (rather than control over others)

Being centered (a state of balanced, calm alertness)

There are many more Aiki principles that are applicable but they all flow from these basic three. These principles are a must for powerful business interactions and positive results. I will discuss each Aiki principle of peace in more detail in future posts.

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